$1.5B lawsuit: Indian Point isn't secure

Worker seeks damages, claims Entergy makes sham of training

Sep. 13, 2012

A structure which houses part of the spent fuel pool for Indian Point 3 is seen at left, attached to the reactor dome at the Indian Point Nuclear Generating Station in Buchanan. / File/The Journal News

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Indian Point’s new perimeter security system crashes regularly and the nuclear power plant routinely fails anti-terrorism drills, a security lieutenant at the plant claims in a $1.52 billion lawsuit.

Clifton “Skip” Travis Jr. is suing plant owner Entergy, claiming that its emphasis on profits over security led to the installation of the new monitoring system without adequate training. He said he has been kept out of work for months because of his criticism of the company’s handling of security issues, including complaints to state and federal officials

The lawsuit, filed Tuesday in state Supreme Court, also names several Entergy subsidiaries and three of Travis’ supervisors: Daniel Gagnon, the security manager; Timothy Redfearn, the security superintendent; and Joseph Pollock, vice president of operations.

“I understand they’re in business to make money ... but my job, my concern, my obligation is to defend that facility against radiological sabotage,” Travis said during an interview Wednesday, frequently repeating his belief that a terrorist attack on the plant is inevitable. “It was never my intention to hurt them. ... This is not a vendetta. This is holding them accountable.”

The lawsuit paints a doomsday picture of what security lapses could mean to those living in the so-called “meltdown zone.”

Travis said that in each of the past two years, the plant’s force-on-force drills — where mock adversaries attack the plant — ended with the “terrorists” taking over their intended targets. And since he was hired, the terrorists have won at least half the time, he said.

One of the times the security force won, he said, was during a “choreographed” drill when Gagnon had the attackers run uphill at fixed positions because it was raining and he wanted to speed up the drill so nobody would get hurt.

Travis contends that company and Nuclear Regulatory Commission officials were so concerned that the plant would fail its triannual drill this year that they canceled it just a few days before it was scheduled in June, citing a “safety concern” that rifles used in the drills were emitting too much carbon dioxide.

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He said the company rushed to have the security system, made by a company named ARINC, operational by Feb. 18, 2011, to avoid hefty fines by the NRC. Travis said the company expected him and other lieutenants to operate the system with little or no training and that they were ill-equipped to fix the system when it repeatedly failed.

Supervisors also encouraged employees to falsify records related to how much security training they received, according to the lawsuit. One employee filled out paperwork indicating he had received more than 60 hours of training — on a single day, the lawsuit alleges.

Although he was out of work this year, Travis claims to have learned that the system crashed more than 7,800 times between January and this week and that the battery backup system failed to work during last weekend’s storm.

According to the lawsuit, during that storm, seven of ARINC’s perimeter-monitoring cameras were out of service for a full day and three of the perimeter’s “bullet-resistant enclosures” lost power. The thermal imaging cameras and monitors near where the plant’s spent- fuel rods are kept also were not working during that period, Travis contends.

Travis claims that the company encourages security staff to bring laptops so they can watch movies and play video games to keep from falling asleep during their shifts. He said that many staff members routinely remove the batteries from the lights on their weapons so they can use them in their personal electronic equipment and often don’t replace them.

Travis cited the stress of fighting for adequate security — and being forced to train during day shifts when he was supposed to be caring for his daughter — for his decision to take a medical leave of absence in November. He said his therapist cleared him to return to work in March but that he has been kept in limbo, not allowed back as retaliation.

The lawsuit seeks $20 million dollars in compensatory damages and $1.5 billion in punitive damages. Travis also wants to have Indian Point closed until Entergy can prove the plant is secure and that security personnel are adequately trained.

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His lawyer, Amy Bellantoni, said a 10-figure lawsuit was appropriate, considering that Entergy is believed to make $4 million a day.

“The only way to make an impact ... is to hit them in their pocket,” Bellantoni said.

The lawsuit comes just a month before a panel of NRC judges will begin considering the issues raised by Indian Point critics trying to persuade the agency not to relicense the plant.

By law, security is not one of the issues the NRC considers. But Phillip Musegaas, Hudson River program director for Riverkeeper, said the lawsuit raises “extremely serious allegations” about plant security and the adequacy of the NRC’s response to those security concerns.

He called for an independent investigation to determine if the plant’s security efforts are sufficient.

“We are talking about a nuclear power plant within 50 miles of 20 million people. Security has to be paramount for both Entergy and the NRC,” Musegaas said.

A spokesman for Entergy, Jim Steets, said Musegaas’s reaction was not surprising, considering Riverkeeper’s opposition to the plant.

“But both the NRC and an independent review of security and emergency planning experts said Indian Point is safe and secure,” Steets said. “In fact it may be the most secure nuclear plant in the nation.”

Neil Sheehan, a spokesman for the NRC, said the agency would not comment on the lawsuit or any aspect of the plant’s security program. He did say the NRC regularly inspects the security program and monitors its anti-terrorism drills and has an allegations program by which employees can make anonymous complaints.

Travis, 47, of Peekskill has lived within a few miles of the plant his entire life. He claims to have extensive experience as a bodyguard and as a teacher of firearms and defensive tactics, and he boasts of training with instructors from some of the world’s finest special operations forces.

He was hired by Entergy as a security officer in 2008 and promoted to lieutenant the following year.

“I will not sit idly by while they put profits over lives,” Travis said. “I don’t ever want to be in a position in my life to say, ‘I told you so.’ ”

Travis and Bellantoni will hold a news conference regarding the lawsuit at 11 a.m. Friday in Buchanan at the Entergy sign outside the main gate of Indian Point.